Disney+ Lands a New Live-Action CASPER Series From Steven Spielberg and Goosebumps Creators After Intense Bidding War

There’s a new version of Casper the Friendly Ghost drifting into development, and this one has some serious creative firepower behind it. Disney+ has officially secured a live-action Casper series after a heated five-way bidding war, bringing together a team that knows their way around supernatural storytelling.

The project comes from Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston, the duo behind Disney+’s Goosebumps revival, along with legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who previously executive produced the 1995 Casper film.

Universal Content Productions is also involved, making this an interesting collaboration between Disney+ and Universal’s TV arm.

Details on the story are still under wraps, but the series is being described as a modern take on the classic ghost tale. Word is that it could lean into a darker tone, similar to how Wednesday reimagined The Addams Family. That should get fans curious about how far they’ll push this version of the famously friendly spirit.

Letterman and Winston are writing the series, with Letterman also set to direct. Both will executive produce alongside Spielberg, forming a team that blends blockbuster experience with strong TV storytelling chops.

Casper has been around for decades, first appearing in animated shorts from Famous Studios between 1945 and 1959 before becoming a staple of Harvey Comics in the early ’50s.

Since then, the character has floated through comic books, multiple animated series, and of course the 1995 live-action film starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman. That movie mixed live-action with CGI, and it sounds like this new series will follow a similar path visually.

If the show moves forward, it’ll mark Universal Studio Group’s first series on Disney+, which reportedly played a role in winning the bidding war. The studio has been spreading its content across major platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Hulu, so adding Disney+ to that list fits their strategy.

This isn’t even the first attempt to bring Casper back in live-action recently. A separate version was previously in development at Peacock in 2022 but didn’t move forward. This new take clearly struck the right chord with buyers.

It’s also worth noting that this is a rare case of Disney+ picking up a major piece of IP that doesn’t originate from within Disney or a book adaptation. If it happens, Casper will share space on the platform with other ghostly icons, including Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Letterman’s resume includes films like Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Monsters vs. Aliens, while Winston has worked on a wide range of TV comedies like Community, Happy Endings, and My Name Is Earl. Together, they’ve already proven they can handle spooky storytelling with a modern edge thanks to Goosebumps.

The project is still in early development, but with this team involved, this version of Casper has a strong chance of actually materializing.